


Brave Girl

by quigonejinn



Category: Pacific Rim (2013)
Genre: Alternate Universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-26
Updated: 2013-07-26
Packaged: 2017-12-21 09:24:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/898640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quigonejinn/pseuds/quigonejinn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The universe where Raleigh tells Stacker no and means it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Brave Girl

**Author's Note:**

> This is a fic where sad and triggery things happen, but I am not specifically identifying what sad/triggery things for narrative reasons. 
> 
> If you are screening for triggers, please consider whether or not you want to read this fic.

There is a universe where Raleigh tells Stacker Pentecost no: they are in the shadow of the wall being built around Alaska, and it isn't quite cold enough that their breath hangs in the air, but it's cold enough Raleigh is dressed in layers. He'll need the calories on his ration card to keep warm until he can get another shift at the top of the wall. In contrast, Pentecost is wearing Ranger blue without the stars or the military insignia, and he asks Raleigh whether he wants to die here, or whether he'd die in a Jaeger. 

Raleigh considers this, thumbs hooked into his pocket. "You guys come up with a single-pilot Jaeger yet?" 

"We have Gipsy Danger," Pentecost says. "We took her out of Oblivion Bay, and had our best and brightest rebuild her. You should see her now." 

He can tell this moves Raleigh, and for a moment --

"But I'd still have to have a co-pilot." Raleigh shakes his head. "Sorry, Marshall."

He walks away; he doesn't change his mind. 

...

How does this change the universe? The scientists still Drift with the brain of a prematurely-born kaiju; Chuck Hansen and his father still have issues with each other, and Max still likes pretty girls who hug him and let him drool on their shoulders. Cherno Alpha disappears under the waves. The Wei triplets drown. Striker Eureka triggers the self-destruct to take out a pair of kaiju.

Before all that, Mako meets Stacker at the Helipad with an extra umbrella, and she sees that he is the only passenger. 

"I'm sorry, Miss Mori," he says. _He left part of himself in the Drift_ , Stacker adds in Japanese. 

"We have more than a dozen candidates." Mako responds in English. "I'll assemble several possible pairings for your review in the Kwoon." 

In the rain pouring down around them, Stacker doesn't respond with words.

Instead, he looks at Mako. Mako looks back at Stacker and squares her shoulders. Her expression is --

...

They need to close the Breach, and it would be hard enough with one rookie in the Conn-Pod, but two? How can he do that? Stacker Pentecost went looking for Raleigh for that reason, and in the universe where Raleigh feels that he has left something behind in the Drift that he will never have again, here is what stays the same: the scientists Drift with a kaiju, and Cherno Alpha and Crimson Typhoon go into the water. What can Stacker Pentecost do? A Jaeger piloted by two rookies stands no chance, and Eureka Strike self-destructs to clear a path for Gypsy Danger to the Breach.

Here is what is different: after the Breach is closed, one pod comes to the surface of the ocean. The flotation bags deploy, and Stacker Pentecost sits up. He is dizzy from lack of oxygen, but the suit did its job. No dangerous nitrogen bubbles, no bends, just his body reacting to the incredible shift in pressure and oxygen levels. 

He climbs out onto head on the lid of his pod. There are pieces of kaiju and Jaeger bobbing to the surface on his left, on his right. A Jaeger life pod coming to the surface makes a distinctive noise signature: this is intentional and done so that rescue crews can have an easier time retrieving them.

He waits.

And he waits.

And he waits. Stacker closes his eyes when the jets pass over. 

...

What does Mako Mori have to come back for? She has her revenge. She rebuilt Gypsy Danger; she fought and went into Drift with the person she admired most in the world. She beat two kaiju to save Hong Kong and almost single-handedly destroyed a third even though the other half of Gypsy Danger was wrecked. If Stacker had never gone into a Jaeger again, he would still have been dead inside a year; from having gone into one again, he would be dead within -- well, months? Who knew? Less if he drank a fifth of Scotch and put a gun in his mouth to save himself the suffering. 

In the rain, next to the Helipad, Stacker and Mako had stood under separate umbrellas. Stacker looked at Mako. Mako had looked back at him, and she squared her shoulders. Her expression was flat, resolute. Proud, maybe even touched with a little anger.

_You're a brave, brave girl._

_If I'm going to get through this, I'm going to need you to protect me._

...

What does Mako Mori have to come back for? What does she have to regret? 

She detonates Gipsy Danger in the heart of the Anteverse, smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> Destronomics came back from Comic Con. I'm writing sad fic again.


End file.
